Spoiler Alert: 'Wall Street' outrage is misplaced

11:31 AM,
Jan. 24, 2014

This film image released by Paramount Pictures shows Jonah Hill, left, and Leonardo DiCaprio in a scene from 'The Wolf of Wall Street.' Hill was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014, for his role in the film. DiCaprio was also nominated for best actor. The 86th Academy Awards will be held on March 2. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures and Red Granite Pictures, Mary Cybulski)

Written by

Todd Hill
MNCO

An early scene in the Martin Scorsese film "The Wolf of Wall Street" succinctly lays out precisely how investment brokers are able to make out like bandits, year in and year out, through booms and even busts like the Great Recession of 2008.

Stock prices, of course, go up and down, and on a fairly willy-nilly basis. Unless his timing is right, an investor has just as good a chance of losing money as he does of making more of it. The broker's commission, however, is his for keeps, and when that investor comes back to make up for his losses. it's yet another gain for the guy who puts in the trade.